Gedab News has learned that Eritrean border security have shot at the family* of a "G-15" member.  The family of four was, with the help of smugglers, trying to evade border patrol and cross to neighboring Sudan when they were shot at by the officers. Gedab News is in the process of confirming who, if any, successfully crossed the border and who, if any, were detained by the security officers and who, if any, were killed.

Gedab News has learned that Eritrean border security have shot at the family* of a "G-15" member. 

The family of four was, with the help of smugglers, trying to evade border patrol and cross to neighboring Sudan when they were shot at by the officers.

Gedab News is in the process of confirming who, if any, successfully crossed the border and who, if any, were detained by the security officers and who, if any, were killed.

"G-15" is shorthand for "Group of 15”—the monicker for the senior party members (parliamentarians, army officers, cabinet members, etc) who, in the wake of the 2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia war, addressed an open letter to President Isaias Afwerki demanding power devolution and reform.  All except for 4 were arrested, without charges or a day in court of law, in September 2001 and remain in detention.  A couple have, according to credible sources, died in prison.

The Eritrean regime has taken a series of draconian measures to contain the massive migration of the youth who are leaving the country to neighboring Sudan and Ethiopia in record numbers.  The regime's punitive measures include punishing the entire family whenever a conscript (or a conscription-eligible individual) leaves the country (50,000 nkf per child or 12 months of prison term) as well as a shoot-to-kill policy of interdiction.

*Awate.com has information on the actual identity of the "G-15" family involved but given the shocking nature of the news, we will not disclose the name until the entire family is informed by loved ones.